/ 


y 

ADDRESSES 

OF 

REV.  DRS.  WM.  HAGUE  AND  E.  N.  KIRK, 

IT  THE  ANNUAL  MSETISO  OF  THE 

■'V:  ^EDUCATIONAL  COMMISSION 

FOB 

FREEDMEN, 

AT  THE  OLD  SOUTn  CHURCn, 

JVC  -A-  Y 2 3,  1863. 


BOSTON: 

PRINTED  BY  DAVID  CLAPP, 
334  Washington  Street. 

1863. 


ADDRESS  OF  REV.  DR.  HAGUE. 


The  existence  of  this  Commission,  and  the  Report  of  its 
first  year’s  work  that  lias  just  been  read,  indicate  a pro- 
found sense  of  the  intimate  connection  between  our  welfare 
as  a nation  and  our  treatment  of  that  oppressed  race  which 
the  Slave  Power  has  naturalized  to  this  continent. 

In  this  connection,  it  is  well  worthy  of  our  notice  that 
the  period  through  which  we  are  now  passing  is  not  the 
first  in  human  history  wherein  a people’s  treatment  of  the 
“ Race-Question  ” has  proved  to  be  the  pivot  of  their  na- 
tional destiny.  The  fortunes  of  Judea  long  librated  upon 
this  turning  point.  It  is  a truth  clearly  brought  to  view 
by  Dr.  J.  Addison  Alexander,  in  the  introduction  to  his  two 
volumes  of  “ Critical  Notes  on  the  Book  of  Isaiah,”  that  in 
the  age  of  that  prince  of  prophets  there  were  already  two 
well-defined  parties  agitating  the  country  and  the  church,  the 
conflicting  elements  of  which  had  long  existed  within  the 
realm  of  Israel.  The  main  question  that  divided  them,  and 
that  really  underlay  all  the  great  controversies  of  those 
times,  was  this : Whether  the  acknowledged  superiority  of 
the  Abrahamic  race  should  be  regarded  as  temporary  and  as 
deriving  its  chief  worth  from  its  ministering  to  the  elevation 
of  all  the  races  through  the  Messiah,  or  regarded  as  an  end 
of  intrinsic  worth  in  itself,  to  be  preserved  by  the  nation’s 
religious  isolation  and  perpetuated  for  its  own  sake.  Hence 
sprang  the  contest  that  raged  from  the  days  of  Isaiah  until 
the  armies  of  Vespasian  trod  the  grandeur  of  Jerusalem  in 


4 


ashes  beneath  their  feet.  It  was  the  grand  design  of  the 
Prophet  to  curb  the  bigotry  of  the  old  conservatives  and 
enlarge  the  popular  mind  by  loftier  ideas  of  the  nation’s 
calling.  He  rendered  himself  obnoxious  to  the  royal  cen- 
sure by  the  fidelity  and  force  with  which  he  showed  that 
the  nation  had  never  been  called  and  separated  from  the 
rest  of  the  world  for  any  intrinsic  merits  of  its  own,  but 
for  the  sake  of  a glorious  mission  to  mankind,  to  be  real- 
ized after  the  advent  of  the  Messiah  in  “the  fulness  of 
time.”  When  that  predicted  Messiah  appeared  and  set 
forth  his  mission  as  a mission  from  the  Father  to  all  the  races 
or  kindreds  of  man  alike,  his  doctrine  gave  mortal  offence 
to  the  rulers.  They  hated  the  very  thought  that  the  “ old 
wall  of  partition  ” should  be  thus  “ broken  down,”  and  they 
committed  the  nation  against  the  leading  idea  of  the  Mes- 
sianic era.  It  was  then  that  the  continuance  of  this  Jewish 
nationality  became  an  offence  against  Heaven  and  Humani- 
ty ; and  so,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  as  he  sat  upon  Mount  Oli- 
vet, a few  days  before  his  crucifixion,  foretold  its  speedy 
and  entire  extinction.  The  Hebrew  Commonwealth  and 
Church  was,  in  his  sight,  a body  without  life ; and,  there- 
fore, with  tears  that  were  signs  of  patriotic  feeling,  he  ex- 
claimed, “ Where  the  carcase  is,  there  shall  the  eagles  be 
gathered  together.”  There  were  some  that  heard  those 
words  who  lived  to  see  that  “ body  politic,”  that  glorious 
old  nationality,  torn  limb  from  limb  and  scattered  abroad 
over  almost  the  whole  earth’s  area,  from  the  tropics  to  the 
poles,  where  the  fragments  now  lie  ( “ disjecta  membra  ” ), 
memorials  of  the  eternal  truth  that  the  government  or  the 
nation  that  will  not  yield  its  service  in  furthering  our  Mes- 
siah’s world-wide  mission  to  humanity,  deserves  to  be  smit- 
ten by  his  “ iron  sceptre,”  and  to  be  “ dashed  in  pieces  like 
a potter’s  vessel.” 

As  it  was  of  old,  in  Judea,  so  is  it  now  in  America : the 
main  political  and  religious  question  which  racks  the  nation 


5 


through  and  through,  is  the  Race-Question.  The  analogy 
is  exact.  The  form  which  this  question  now  takes  on,  may 
be  stated  almost  in  the  same  words,  namely : Whether  that 
acknowledged  Caucasian  superiority  wherein  this  people 
glory,  should  be  regarded  as  temporary,  and  as  deriving  its 
chief  worth  from  its  ministry  to  the  elevation  of  all  the 
races  through  the  Messiah,  or  regarded  as  an  end  to  be  pre- 
served by  keeping  up  the  partition-wall  of  political  caste, 
and  perpetuated  for  its  own  sake  ? This  is  the  great  ordeal- 
question  of  our  era.  There  are  many  whose  pride  of  Cau- 
casian blood  is  akin  to  that  of  the  ancient  conservative  Jew 
touching  his  Abrahamic  lineage.  They  would  maintain  its 
political  supremacy  forever,  by  exacting  forced  service  from 
the  other  races.  This  idea  is  directly  antagonistic  to  the 
truly  catholic  aim  of  Christianity,  which  is  to  uplift  the 
down-trodden  and  to  “ exalt  the  low  ” by  its  kindly  minis- 
tries. It  was  in  view  of  this  broad,  humane  catliolicit}’,  that 
Faul  said  he  knew  not  even  the  Messiah  as  a Jew,  or  “ after 
the  flesh  ” (2  Cor.  v.  16).  Just  so  we  know  Him  not  as  Cau- 
casian, but  as  human.  Whatsoever  of  superiority  pertains 
to  the  Caucasian  race  is  to  be  made  subservient  to  the  bless- 
ing and  uplifting  of  all  the  races,  or  else  this  race  be  left 
with  selfish,  introverted  passions,  to  prey  with  suicidal 
greed  upon  its  own  life-blood. 

The  moral  bearing  of  this  race-question  upon  our  fortunes 
as  a people,  was  earnestly  discussed  by  our  fathers  in  the 
early  days  of  the  nation’s  infancy.  Our  duty  to  the  colored 
race  in  our  land,  what  things  should  be  attempted  on  their 
behalf,  what  should  be  done  with  them,  were  among  the 
chief  topics  of  debate  during  the  first  third  of  this  century. 
The  general  answer  to  the  main  question  which  these  topics 
suggested,  the  answer  that  expressed  the  Christian  and  phi- 
lanthropic sentiment  of  the  country,  was  contained  in  this 
proposition : Voluntary,  gradual  emancipation,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  opening  of  new  fields  of  action  for  the  freed- 


6 


men  within  the  territories  of  our  colonies  in  Africa.  These 
words  set  forth  the  popular  answer  to  the  practical  inquiry 
touching  our  duty  to  the  colored  race  that  was  given  by  the 
generation  that  has  passed  away  — the  generation  whose 
leadership  was  signalized  at  the  commencement  and  the 
close  of  its  career  by  the  names  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  the 
first  Presidential  patron  of  the  American  Colonization  So- 
ciety, and  of  Henry  Clay,  its  former  President.  These  men 
represented  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  the  country,  north 
and  south,  in  regard  to  the  deadly  evil  inherent  in  the  slave 
relation,  and  to  the  temporary,  provisional  continuance  of 
the  Slave  Power.  What  that  prevailing  sentiment  was,  the 
accepted  style  of  its  expression,  may  be  learned  from  the 
statements  of  a distinguished  Virginian,  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Colonization  Society,  in  a public  address  for  the  fur- 
therance of  that  enterprise.  After  freely  avowing  himself 
a slaveholder,  he  said : “ But  I hold  it  due  to  candor  to  say, 
that  if  there  be  a statesman  in  the  United  States,  and  I 
believe  there  are  two  or  three  such,  who  is  content  that  we 
shall  always  hold  them  in  servitude,  and  would  advise  us 
to  rest  contented  with  them,  us  and  our  posterity,  without 
seeking  or  accepting  means  of  liberating  ourselves  and 
them,  he  deserves  a heavier  vengeance  than  the  orator’s 
bile ; the  curses  of  America  counselled  to  her  ruin,  and  of 
outraged  Africa.  Let  me  not  be  considered  harsh ; for  in- 
asmuch as  the  piratical  trader  for  human  beings  on  the 
African  coast,  the  master  of  the  slave-ship,  is  the  most  de- 
testable of  monsters  in  action,  so,  I must  say,  is  the  advocate 
by  cool  argument  of  slavery  in  the  abstract,  odious  in 
thought.’’* 

The  men  who  spake  thus  and  who  acted  together  as  a 
Society,  cherished  sanguine  hope  of  gradually  lifting  from 
this  country  the  burden  of  the  slave  system.  It  was  a noble 
work.  It  seemed  for  a time  to  command  universal  sympa- 


African  Repository,  Sept.,  1S30,  p.  208. 


7 


thy.  But  how  was  it  balked?  Whence  came  the  first 
effective  blow  that  was  aimed  at  its  breast  ? 

Does  any  one  suppose  that  the  first  blow  came  from 
Northern  Abolitionism?  That  assertion  has  been  often 
made,  but  it  is  incorrect.  The  Journals  of  American  Coloni- 
zatiouism  contain  remonstrances  and  appeals  against  a ris- 
ing power  that  met  it  with  menaces,  denounced  its  benevo- 
lence as  mock  philanthropy,  and  plotted  its  overthrow  be- 
fore Abolitionism  at  the  north  had  taken  form,  and  even 
before  the  name  of  “ The  Liberator  ” had  been  pronounced 
within  the  realm  of  the  Slave  Power. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  said  that  this  opposition  to  gradual 
emancipation  came  first  from  “ the  South  ” itself.  But  then 
it  may  be  replied  that  Virginia,  Georgia,  North  Carolina, 
Tennessee  and  Louisiana,  the  most  zealous  supporters  of 
the  Colonization  Society,  constituted  “ the  South ; ” and  that 
in  union  with  the  North,  at  the  old  homestead  of  the  Society 
in  Washington,  they  imparted  a sort  of  nationality  to  the 
work  of  building  up  the  empire  of  Liberia,  then  in  the  flush 
of  youthful  life.  It  would  not  convey,  therefore,  a truthful 
impression  of  the  facts  to  say  that  u the  South  ” was  the 
parent  of  this  antagonism. 

From  what  source,  then,  did  it  come  ? Our  answer  is  that 
the  first  movement  against  this  enterprise  of  gradual  eman- 
cipation signalizes  the  appearance  of  a new  political  power 
within  the  borders  of  “ the  South,”  but  which  “ the  South  ” 
itself  was  scarcely  aware  of  and  had  not  yet  recognized. 
This  new  Power  was  the  South  Carolina  School  of  Politi- 
cians, who  boldly  struck  for  the  doctrine  of  perpetual  sla- 
very as  the  true  basis  of  social  order,  the  corner-stone  of  a 
Caucasian  Commonwealth.  In  the  year  1827,  these  men 
boldly  denounced  the  Colonization  Society  as  an  instrument 
in  the  hands  of  Northern  fanatics  to  destroy  the  domestic 
institutions  of  the  South,  “ as  murderous  in  its  principles, 
and  as  tending  inevitably  to  the  destruction  of  the  public 


8 


peace.”  Although  in  the  year  1820  Dr.  Meade  had  visited 
South  Carolina  as  the  agent  of  the  Society,  and  reported, 
on  his  return,  that  he  had  been  well  received,  yet  when  it 
was  seen  that  voluntary  emancipation  was  following  in  the 
train  of  colonization,  the  success  of  the  Society  awakened 
that  “ desperate  and  malignant  spirit  ” which  moved  forth- 
with to  arrest  its  progress. 

Such  was  the  beginning  of  that  new  Political  Power,  that 
South  Carolina  school  of  statesmanship,  which  may  be  pro- 
perly designated  “ the  Young  South.”  Its  rise,  progress 
and  deadly  antagonism  to  the  doctrines  of  “ the  South,” 
properly  so  called,  that  is  the  Old  South,  are  clearly  set  forth 
in  the  first  article  of  the  African  Repository  for  September, 
1830,  entitled  “South  Carolina  opinions  of  the  Coloniza- 
tion Society.”  Thirty-three  years  ago  that  article  was  print- 
ed at  Washington,  and  elucidates  so  well  the  relations  of 
the  race-question  at  that  time,  that  it  may  be  fairly  regard- 
ed now  as  exhibiting  a salient  point  of  American  history. 

That  article  has  been  fresh  on  our  memory  from  the 
time  of  its  publication.  It  is  closed  by  a solemn  appeal 
to  the  foes  of  emancipation,  and  says,  “ Such  men  have  more 
to  do  than  to  counteract  the  efforts  of  our  Society ; few  and 
feeble  even  in  the  States  of  the  South,  they  must  gird  them- 
selves for  warfare  against  all  the  friends  of  virtue  apd  lib- 
erty, of  man  and  of  God  ! ” 

Those  words  of  warning  were  unheeded.  How  awfully 
verified  are  they  at  this  hour  ! That  young  school  of  Soutli 
Carolina  statesmanship,  with  a zeal  worthy  of  a better 
cause,  by  degrees  gained  over  to  its  side  the  sisterhood  of 
Southern  States,  and  became  an  acknowledged  leader- 
ship. Its  answer  to  the  great  question  of  the  age  as  to 
what  should  be  done  with  the  colored  race,  was  simply  this : 
“ Enslave  it  forever  ! ” It  moved  forward  with  rapid  strides 
in  its  bad  career,  until  it  fired  upon  the  national  Hag  at  Fort 
Sumter ; and  in  the  thunder  of  that  first  gun  we  heard  God’s 


9 


voice  sounding  forth,  in  answer  to  the  question  touching  the 
destiny  of  the  colored  race,  this  majestic  decree : Immediate 
Emancipation  by  the  War-Power  ! 

Then  sprang  into  being  this  Society,  or  Educational  Com- 
mission, called  forth  by  Divine  Providence  to  grapple  with 
the  new  problem,  What  shall  be  done  with  the  Freedmen? 
Your  answer  was,  “ Educate  them  to  liberty ; teach  them  to 
work  for  wages,  to  earn  their  living,  and  to  take  care  of 
themselves.”  That  answer  has  been  realized  in  action  ; 
and  the  report  of  this  first  year’s  work  is  the  practical  solu- 
tion of  a national  problem  so  momentous  as  to  impart  to 
the  document  a permanent  historical  value. 

And  now  just  observe,  we  pray  you,  while  glancing  over 
this  retrospective  survey  of  a certain  course  of  events,  ex- 
tending from  the  year  1827  to  the  year  1863,  that  subtle 
moral  connection  of  things  whereby  Divine  Providence  un- 
folds its  agency  in  making  a great  good  the  offset  of  a great 
evil.  In  1827,  the  New  School  of  Pro-Slavery  Politicians 
in  South  Carolina  was  quietly  forming  itself  for  antagonistic 
action  against  the  scheme  of  gradual  emancipation,  and  ut- 
tered its  protest  on  the  ground  that  any  kind  of  emancipa- 
tion was  impracticable,  the  dream  of  visionaries  and  fana- 
tics, to  be  resisted  as  an  offence  against  the  public  peace  ; 
in  the  year  1863,  the  Educational  Commission  of  Boston 
has  quietly  reported  a year’s  work  for  emancipated  slaves 
upon  the  soil  of  that  same  South  Carolina,  and  announces 
a grand  result  in  the  words  of  General  Saxton,  “ that  the 
fixed  population  within  our  lines,  upon  the  Sea-Islands,  is 
now  a self-sustaining  and  industrious  community ! ” Surely, 
in  the  light  of  such  a history,  we  may  apply  to  that  ill-fated 
State  the  saying  of  Him  whose  warnings  were  “ despised 
and  rejected  of  men,”  the  saying  that  was  uttered  while  He 
wept  in  view  of  the  doomed  metropolis  of  his  own  country : 
“ Thou  knewest  not  the  time  of  thy  visitation ; behold,  your 
house  is  left  unto  you  desolate.” 


10 


The  report  furnishes  to  us  an  occasion  of  joyous  thanks- 
giving. Let  it  cheer  us  onward  to  renewed  action  for  the 
year  to  come.  Let  us  give  ear  also  to  the  friendly  voices 
that  have  just  now  been  wafted  to  us  across  the  Atlantic. 
This  enterprise  has  presented  to  the  true  friends  of  freedom 
in  England  their  first  opportunity  of  cooperating  effec- 
tively with  us  in  behalf  of  a common  cause.  The  great 
meeting  for  the  formation  of  a Freedmen’s  Aid  Society, 
which  was  lately  held  in  St.  James’s  Hall,  Piccadilly,  and  at 
which  Sir  T.  Fowell  Buxton,  Bart.,  presided,  was  a noble 
demonstration.  The  report  which  was  there  read  by  Rev. 
J.  Curwen,  indicated  a most  exact  acquaintance  with  our 
field  of  labor,  and  an  earnest  desire  to  help  us.  They  meant 
all  that  they  said ; they  will  “ make  their  words  good ; ” 
and  we  doubt  not  their  budding  promises  will  ripen  into 
golden  and  enduring  fruitage,  to  be  garnered  by  the  freed- 
men  of  the  South,  now  emerging  from  a state  of  debasing 
bondage  into  a new  realm  of  life,  liberty,  manhood,  woman- 
hood, virtue,  knowledge,  and  of  boundless  progress  in  an 
ever-widening  career  of  prosperity  and  improvement. 


ADDRESS  OF  REV.  DR.  KIRK. 


This  oppressed  people  have  claims  on  our  sympathy  and 
on  our  sense  of  right,  for  they  have  been  maltreated  by  us. 

There  was  once  a man,  who  on  his  way  to  Jericho  from 
Jerusalem,  fell  among  thieves.  They  stripped  him,  robbed 
him,  and  bruised  him.  I know  not  that  the  Saviour  had 
the  Africo- Americans  in  view  when  he  uttered  that  parable. 
But  it  is  very  applicable  to  them ; for  there  surely  was  a 
time  when  they  were  free ; and  then  some  wretch  robbed 
them  of  their  inalienable  rights,  and  consigned  them  to  sla- 
very, with  all  its  terrible  consequences.  The  Southern 
people  have  perpetuated  the  wrong ; for  they  never  could 
make  the  wrong  a right;  and  the  original  robber  never 
could  convey  a right  which  he  himself  did  not  possess. 

We  of  the  North  have  very  generally  participated  in  the 
wrong-doing ; for  we  have  been  prejudiced  against  this  peo- 
ple, and  we  have  withholden  from  them  the  sympathy  and 
respect  due  to  their  manhood,  and  to  the  personal  worth  of 
many  of  them,  extending  our  prejudices  so  far  as  to  allow 
no  manhood  even  to  them  whose  blood  is  five-sixth  Cau- 
casian. 

We  have  withholden  from  them  the  benefit  of  those  noble 
institutions  which  we  prize  so  much  as  to  be  willing  to  pay 
a thousand  million  and  two  thousand  million  dollars,  and  a 
twenty  years’  war  to  maintain  them.  We  have  coldly  and 
superciliously  consented  to  the  black  man  being  deprived  of 
these. 


12 


And  this  wickedness  we  have  justified  by  confounding  two 
very  distinct  propositions  : “ What  ought  I to  feel  ? ” with 
“ What  ought  I to  do  ? ” — the  political  with  the  moral  ques- 
tion. The  Constitution  restrained  us  from  acting  politically 
on  the  subject  of  slavery ; but  it  had  no  authority  within 
the  domain  of  the  conscience,  or  that  of  the  heart.  We  still 
retained,  under  the  Constitution,  the  right  to  hate  injustice 
and  oppression ; to  abhor  slavery,  and  to  use  every  moral 
influence  for  its  overthrow.  But  we  sunk  by  degrees  into 
apathy  of  feeling  and  into  an  acquiescence  in  wickedness, 
because  we  could  not  politically  oppose  it.  If  we  had 
lived  in  the  court  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  we  would,  on  this 
principle,  have  bowed  down  to  the  great  golden  image  at 
the  sound  of  the  sackbut  and  psaltery.  We  should  have 
thought  the  Constitution  made  it  necessary. 

In  all  this  we  have  wronged  ourselves.  A prejudice  is 
more  hurtful  to  him  that  entertains  it  than  to  him  against 
whom  it  is  indulged.  And,  by  entertaining  it  in  this  case, 
we  have  also  almost  lost  our  country.  The  rebellion  never 
would  have  been  projected  cofdd  not  its  leaders  have  count- 
ed largely  upon  the  sympathy  of  the  free  States  in  their 
estimate  of  slavery  and  slaves.  To  the  rebels  the  negroes 
have  been  invaluable  as  slaves.  But  suppose  our  worthy 
President  had  seen  in  the  country  a public  sentiment  that 
would  have  sustained  him  in  the  proclamation  of  freedom 
two  years  ago,  where  would  this  war  have  been  to-day  ? 
Let  us  try  the  force  of  figures. 

Here  are  24,716,000  Union  white  people  in  the  country, 
and  4,325,000  Union  black  people.  There  arc  4,125,000 
rebel  whites,  and  perhaps  not  one  rebel  negro.  Now  sup- 
pose we  had  called  the  4,325,000  black  men,  or  one  in  ten 
of  them,  to  meet  one  in  ten  of  the  4,125,000  rebels,  this 
would  have  been  the  state  of  the  case : we  should  have  set 
a black  man  to  face  every  rebel,  and  then  had  a reserve  of 
20,000  black  soldiers  and  2,470,000  white  soldiers. 


13 


God  is  now  urging  the  negro’s  claims  by  his  own  won- 
derful processes.  He  is  sweeping  away  prejudices  with  an 
astonishing  rapidity.  Who  could  have  anticipated  the  Di- 
vine Wisdom  m this  ? The  white  man  must  see  the  negro 
lighting  for  liberty,  then  he  will  respect  him.  One  instance 
may  illustrate  the  process  now  going  forward.  When  the 
negro  regiment  was  hard  pressed  in  its  Florida  raid,  a Con- 
necticut regiment  was  ordered  from  Hilton  Head  to  go  and 
reinforce  it.  The  order  was  received  by  them  as  simply 
ridiculous.  But  it  must  at  last  be  obeyed.  The  Connecti- 
cut soldiers  reached  the  place  just  while  the  black  men  were 
bravely  contending  against  superior  numbers.  They  saw 
there,  not  the  crouching  slave  planting  cotton  under  the  lash, 
but  the  man  defending  his  manhood  and  his  country.  Their 
prejudices  were  transformed  into  admiration.  They  rushed 
in  side  by  side  with  their  colored  brethren,  carried  the  day, 
and  came  out  of  the  fight  glorying  in  their  brave  companions 
in  arms.  They  returned  to  Hilton  Head  joyously  together. 
And  when  they  landed,  went  arm  in  arm  together  to  the 
house  of  God. 

How  often  have  we  heard  the  exclamation  within  six 
months,  “ My  feelings  about  slavery  and  the  negro  are  all 
changed  1 ” Thankful  may  the  negro  be : more  thankful 
shall  we  be  when  God  shall  have  completed  this  work — 
removing  the  prejudices  of  twenty  million  hearts  towards 
an  injured  race. 

But,  can  the  negro  fight  ? I will  answer  that  inquiry  by 
making  a little  catechism. 

When  Major  Pitcairn,  of  the  British  marines,  leaped  on 
the  redoubt  of  Bunker  Hill,  shouting  “ The  day  is  ours,” 
and  striking  terror  into  the  colonial  troops,  who  sealed  those 
lips  and  laid  the  invader  in  the  dust?  Peter  Salem,  a 
negro. 

When  the  struggling  colonies  were  contending  for  Ameri- 
can freedom  at  Bunker  Hill,  who  stood  side  by  side  with  our 
fathers  ? The  negro. 


14 


For  whom  did  the  principal  officers  in  that  fight  petition 
the  General  Court  for  some  special  token  of  approbation, 
describing  him  as  “ a brave  and  gallant  soldier  ” ? Salem 
Poor,  a negro. 

Whom  did  Samuel  Lawrence,  of  Groton,  one  of  our  no- 
ble patriot  ancestors,  lead  to  the  fight  of  Bunker  Hill  ? A 
company  of  negroes. 

What  makes  his  grandson  so  zealous  a friend  of  the  ne- 
gro ? Because  he  is  true  to  the  sacred  memories  of  his 
ancestor,  who  was  rescued  from  extreme  peril  by  the  deter- 
mined bravery  of  this  same  company  of  negroes. 

Who,  before  our  degenerate  times,  in  the  days  of  true 
patriotism,  was  admitted  to  stand  in  the  ranks  with  the  white 
man  ? The  negro. 

What  Southern  State,  in  1775,  passed  an  order  for  en- 
rolling slaves  as  military  laborers  ? South  Carolina. 

Who  first  promised  freedom  to  all  slaves  who  would  join 
the  British  army  ? A British  nobleman,  Lord  Dunmore, 
Governor  of  Virginia. 

Was  the  proclamation  of  Lord  Dunmore  a brulum  fulmen  ? 
It  aroused  the  whole  colony,  and  led  the  masters  to  promise 
freedom  to  every  slave  who  could  fight,  that  would  stand  by 
his  master. 

Who  seized  Major-General  Prescott,  chief  of  the  royal 
army  of  Newport  ? Prince,  a valiant  negro,  who  knocked 
the  door  of  the  chamber  open  with  his  head,  and  then  seized 
his  victim  in  bed. 

Which  is  pronounced  the  best  fought  battle  of  the  Revo- 
lution ? The  battle  of  Rhode  Island.  But  it  was  saved  to 
us  by  a negro  regiment  that  three  times-  repelled  the  Hes- 
sians with  a desolating  fire. 

When  was  Col.  Greene  murdered  at  Point’s  Bridge  ? 
Not  until  the  enemy  had  laid  his  negro  guard  all  dead  at 
his  side. 

Why  were  vigorous  efforts  made,  in  the  war  with  George  • 


15 


III.,  to  enlist  negroes  in  Georgia  and  South  Carolina? 
Because  there  was  not  patriotism  enough  in  the  whites  to 
make  an  army  to  resist  the  enemy. 

What  did  Gen.  Jackson  say  to  the  free  negroes  of  Louisi- 
ana in  September,  1814  ? “ Through  a mistaken  policy  you 

have  heretofore  been  deprived  of  a participation  in  the  glo- 
rious struggle  for  national  rights.  This  no  longer  shall 
exist.  As  sons  of  freedom  you  arc  now  called  upon  to  de- 
fend our  most  inestimable  blessings.”  In  December,  1814, 
in  another  proclamation  he  says : “ I expected  much  from 
you ; for  I was  not  uninformed  of  those  qualities  wliich  made 
you  so  formidable  to  an  invading  foe.  But  you  surpass 
my  hopes.  I have  found  united  in  you  those  qualities,  that 
noble  enthusiasm  which  impels  to  great  deeds.” 

What  does  Gen.  Saxton  think  of  the  negroes  as  soldiers, 
laborers,  and  men  ? That  they  show  “ as  much  aptitude  as 
the  white  soldier ; and  properly  led,  they  will  do  as  efficient 
service  in  battle.” 

God  is  now  removing  the  burdens  that  have  oppressed  this 
people,  and  the  barriers  that  kept  them  from  entering  the 
domain  of  citizenship  and  fellowship. 

The  laws  against  teaching  the  negro  to  read  are  null  and 
void  on  the  whole  Southern  coast,  and  in  at  least  three  slave 
States.  The  political  power  of  slave-holding  is  now  de- 
stroyed, never  to  be  recovered.  God,  indeed,  is  threatening 
to  extinguish  the  “peculiar  institution,”  bringing  on  the 
accomplishment  of  Washington’s  desire,  “to  see  a plan 
adopted  by  which  slavery  in  this  country  might  be  abo- 
lished ; ” not,  however,  “ by  law,”  as  he  desired,  but  against 
unrighteous  legislation. 

What,  then,  are  we  to  do  ? Supply  the  lack  of  action  of 
our  Government  wherever,  for  want  of  time  to  attend  to 
it,  they  must  neglect  any  interest.  We  must  organize 
a protective  system  for  this  poor  people  emerging  from  a 
degrading  position.  Their  rights  must  be  vigilantly  guard- 


16 


ed  by  a wise  supervision.  Their  indigent,  infirm,  aged  and 
infants  must  be  brought  under  a Christian  guardianship. 
There  must  be  a clothing  the  naked,  feeding  the  hungry, 
healing  the  sick.  There  must  be  an  industrial  organization ; 
providing  farms  and  workshops,  and  instruments  and  seeds ; 
starting  them  on  a new  career  of  a fair  competition  of  in- 
dustry and  skill  with  their  white  brethren.  There  must  be 
educational  organizations,  bringing  up  the  enslaved  mind 
out  of  Egypt  into  the  land  of  promise.  They  are  eager  to 
learn,  apt  to  learn.  They  must  be  taught  order,  cleanliness, 
system,  domestic  economy.  The  better  class  of  minds  must 
have  the  wide  door  of  literature,  history  and  science  and 
statesmanship  opened  to  them.  There  must  be  a thorough 
spiritual  supervision  of  them  until  they  can  organize  their 
own  churches  and  sustain  their  own  pastors. 

This  we  must  do  for  Christ’s  sake.  He  loves  the  Afri- 
can ; he  died  for  him,  and  will  welcome  him  to  the  same 
heaven  to  which  we  are  going.  This  we  must  do  for  our 
country’s  sake.  The  body  politic  cannot  any  longer  bear 
to  have  such  a gangrene  of  ignorance,  animalism  and  con- 
cubinage festering  within  it.  This  we  must  do  for  the 
world’s  sake.  The  barbarism  of  the  United  States  as  it 
was  before  the  month  of  April,  1861,  must  now  pass  away 
forever.  This  we  must  do  for  our  own  sakes.  The  day  is 
coming  when  the  Lord  will  say — “ I was  naked,  I was  hun- 
gry, I was  ignorant.  Come,  ye  blessed,  who  pitied  and  re- 
lieved me.  Depart,  ye  cursed,  who  despised  me  because  I 
was  not  fair-skinned.” 


